The Day After Tomorrow
by khughes830
Summary: MY ODE TO THE END! I never considered a Vincik win till yesterday, so this is my version of events after election day!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Not mine, not mine, but I will miss them like my own family members once they are gone.  
**Characters: **Josh and Donna, for now  
**A/N: MY ODE TO THE END!** I felt sad yesterday when I heard the news, but also a sense of closure - I will miss this show more than anything, but I feel that it is time. I read that Bradley Whitford said that "they had to cancel the show or I would never leave it" which warms my heart. I love me some Josh Lyman and Bradley Whitford can do no wrong in my eyes. I am glad they shared these characters with us and hopefully they will be back soon with new characters to inspire our imaginations (BRADLEY - GO DO SORKIN'S NEW SHOW!)

* * *

Donna rolled over and stretched her arms over her head, cracking her eye to see the sun streaming through her window. She rolled over and looked at the clock – 10:15.

"Son of a…" she yelled, shooting up and throwing back the covers before she realized that there was nowhere to hurry off to, no press to deal with today, no strategizing sessions. There was none of that since they had lost – Arnold Vinick was the President-elect.

Leo's death had sent them into a tail spin. Josh and Matt were inconsolable and the country just couldn't justify voting for a man whose running mate had yet to be determined. Josh had been right all those months ago – Matt needed Leo as his running mate, as his Vice President and that was all the more clear now.

Donna wiped the tears from her eyes and got out of bed to take a shower. It had taken all of two days to shut down the Santos offices, which she found amazing considering all of the hours they had poured into the campaign. Matt and Helen had already gone back to Houston to get on with their lives and Josh seemed to crawl into himself. She and Lou had done all the thank you speeches, knowing Josh wasn't up for anything.

Sitting with him three nights ago as the news called state after state for the Vinick campaign – she could tell he was withdrawing and readying himself for the worst. He had done the same thing a week earlier, when Annabeth had come into his office while they were talking, tears streaming down her face, only being able to choke out the words "fatal heart attack" before falling into Donna's arms. She would never forget the look on Josh's face when Annabeth said those words – she had seen it all those years before in Chicago when she had told him about his father. When Bram and Ronna came into the office, Donna passed Annabeth off to them and rounded Josh's desk. He rocketed out of his chair and latched on to her like she was the last thing holding him to the ground. All he had done was hold on to her for the last week – squeezing her shoulder as the tears formed in his eyes during the funeral, wrapping his arm around her shoulder when Leo's casket was placed in the ground at Arlington, crushing her hand when Brian Williams had called the election for the Republicans last night. She wiped the condensation off the mirror and stared at herself, wondering where the tears were still coming from.

She had just shut off the hair dryer when she heard the knock at the door. She glanced at herself in the mirror one more time before heading toward the front door. She threw open the door to see a lost looking man standing there, leaning against the threshold.

"I didn't know what to do today" Josh whispered.

She smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him into her apartment. He pushed the door shut and let her lead him over to the couch. She pushed him down and stood over him. "You want some coffee?"

"What? Did you just ask me what I think you asked me?"

She smirked, knowing that would get a rise out of him. "Look, I was just offering…"

He held up his hand. "No, I've been up since 6. I think I've already overloaded on coffee today."

"Well, ok then" she said, walking into the kitchen. "Well, how about some food." She pulled open her refrigerator and sighed. "Well, so I don't actually have any food, but I could run to the store and make us lunch and…"

Suddenly, she felt his presence behind her. She sighed as he put his hands on her shoulders and she knew he was smiling when she leaned back into him. The door slipped out of her grasp as she reached up to put her hands on his.

"Let's get out of here" he whispered in her ear.

"Out of my apartment?"

"Out of town. My car is outside with a full tank of gas, an overnight bag with some clothes and U2 already playing in the CD player."

"Josh, we can't just…"

He whirled her around and slid his hands down to her hips. "We can't what, Donna – just up and leave, shirk our responsibilities, call in sick. Donnatella, in case you haven't notice, we are kind of lacking in the responsibility department right now." She was about to open her mouth to respond when he put one hand over her mouth to silence her. "Please, Donna. I feel… I feel like I'm suffocating in this town right now – the looks, the calls, the job offers. I need to just get away for a few days and I really didn't want to go by myself. I don't want to beg, but I will" he said, waggling his eyebrows. She couldn't help but laugh.

"Give me 10 minutes" she said, shooting out of his grasp and running back toward her bedroom. "Pack something nice" she heard him yell as she grabbed a bag out of her closet.

* * *

After a quick stop at McDonald's for lunch, Donna soon found herself headed south out of DC. That was strange enough, but what made it even stranger was Josh Lyman sitting next to her, belting out U2's greatest hits.

"You know, Joshua, I don't think Bono ever meant for 'With or Without You' to be sung quite like that."

He glanced over at her and smirked. "It's called creative licensing, Donnatella. You need to loosen up."

She turned toward him and glared. "OK, I'm sorry, I thought I was in the car with Joshua Lyman, perennial pain in the ass, not Mr. Cool and Laid back. I apologize for making that mistake."

Her heart warmed when he graced her with a full-on dimple smile. "You know, Donna that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days."

"Spoken like someone that knows" she snarked back.

He smirked back at her and turned his direction back to the road. She took a long sip of her drink and glanced over at him. "So, where are we going?"

"Well, I figured I would let the Audi decide. Seems it wanted to head south, so Charleston is our next destination."

"And if the Audi had wanted to go north?"

"New York" he said, very matter of factly.

"Ahhh" she said, shaking her head and smiling at him

* * *

4 hours later, they were driving around Charleston. Josh got to a stop sign and looked one way, then the other.

"I wish you would have stopped so I could have gotten a map."

"And the fun in that would have been, what?"

Looking again, he turned right and drove down the street. She was about to open her mouth again when a beautiful building came into her line of sight down at the end of the street.

"What is that?" she said, pointing.

"Who knows, let's go find out."

Josh stopped the car in the middle of the street and read the sign. "Wentworth Mansion and Bed and Breakfast." He turned back to see the look on Donna's face and the way she was checking out the building. "Pretty, huh?" he said, smirking at her.

She slapped his arm. "Pretty? Josh, will you look at this place. The architecture is…" She stopped talking as he pulled the car into an open spot and turned off the ignition. "I'll be back" he said, jumping out of the car and crossing the street, walking through the front door of the building.

A couple of minutes later, she saw him run back across the street. He round the car and opened her door. He reached his hand out to her and helped her out of the car. He slammed the door shut and pressed something into her hand.

She looked down and saw a key. "What the hell…"

"Well, Rhonda said… sorry, Rhonda is the front desk clerk – sweet girl, voted for Matt. Anyway, I went into ask if we could look around and she recognized me and… well, it would seem that they have a couple of rooms available and viola… here we go."

She stared at him as he walked back to the trunk and started to pull their bags out. "Wait, we're staying here?"

"Well, yeah, Donna, where you been?" he said over his shoulder as he walked back across the street. He hit the sidewalk and looked back over at her. "You coming?" he yelled.

"OK, seriously, the pod people must have invaded last night" she muttered to herself as she crossed the street and walked inside with Josh, all the while glancing at him, wondering where the aliens had entered his body.

TBC….


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1  
**A/N: **ok, so my map totally lied to me. Charleston SC - not as close as the map said it was. Sorry to anyone from the region. Thanks to Kristin over at JDFF at Yahoo for pointing that out to me. Also thanks to Mindy at JDFF at Yahoo for all the ideas about Charleston - her ideas are all over this story. Also, thanks to ghosts dot org for the info on the Gray Man. Apparently, it's true and if you ever in Charleston, you can take the tour yourself! I swear, this story is going somewhere, so just stick with me!

* * *

She glared at him over their pizza and beer. She had been trying to get into his head since they had arrived, but he was stumping her. He had been very un-Josh like since he showed up at her apartment this morning. He was relaxed and funny and attentive – it had been a long time, a very long time since she had seen this side of him. It's not that she didn't like it – she liked it a lot, but she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had spent a good 20 minutes chatting up Rhonda at the front desk, picking her brain about what they should do while they were in town. Normally a flirty 25 year old red head would have made her a little jealous – ok, a lot jealous, but he kept his arm securely around her shoulders they whole time they talked to Rhonda. 

Rhonda had recommended this pizza place not too far from the mansion, so they headed out here. She was convinced he had lost his mind when he said that they should walk instead of driving. It was unseasonably warm for this time of year and he thought they should take advantage of it. Donna felt his forehead to make sure he didn't have a fever.

"Will you quit looking at me like that?" he said as he swallowed his beer.

"Like what?"

"Like I've been invested by the pod people and you are trying to figure out if you're next."

"I wasn't…" He cocked his head and raised his eyebrows, effectively cutting her off. "Ok, but I haven't had that thought in a good hour or so."

He smiled and grabbed another slice off the tray. She studied his face for a minute before taking a sip of her beer. "Just ask me" he said as he poured red pepper flakes on his pizza.

"Fine. What in the hell is going on with you?"

He sighed and put the shaker back down. "I'm just… I need to get out. I felt like the weight of DC was crushing me. I'd felt like that for awhile, but after the election… well, it just got worse. The thought of going out of my house made me sick to my stomach. I just had to get out, make an escape while I still could and, of course, I thought that you could use the break as well since we both know that your previous bosses have been… well, let's just say less than accommodating when it came to vacations."

All she could do was smile. She knew that he had been stressed and about to lose it and Leo's death had just compounded everything he had been feeling. She tried not to push him too much in those last few days leading up to the election. When the news came out, they knew it would be bad, but they all agreed that they had to be honest with the public – it's the only way Leo would have wanted it, he had said when they found out.

"Now what?" he asked, smiling back at her.

"Nothing" she said, shaking her head to break her out of her reverie. "So, what's next on the agenda there, Joshua?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her and looked down at his watch. "Yeah, we need to get going or we are going to be late." He waived the waiter over and quickly paid.

* * *

"Rumor has it that anyone who sees the Gray Man's apparition will soon meet their untimely end. He only appears when the moon hides itself behind the clouds…" the tour guide prattled on as they walked through the graveyard. 

Donna was looking at the headstones and trying to keep her heart from beating out her chest – after all, Josh knew how she felt about ghost stories – when from behind her a pair of hands grabbed her and shook her.

"Oh my God, there he is. Don't look, Donnatella. Take me you crusty old ghost – let the lady live!"

She whirled around and started to slap him on the arm with her hands. "You are a hateful, hateful man Joshua Lyman" she said, glaring at him. When he started to laugh, she pushed against his chest, effectively pushing him off his feet and onto the ground. She just glared at him as his body went stiff against the ground.

"I can't… oh God… oh Donna, Donna, save me Donna. The ghosts are… I'm trapped. You're my only hope, Donna. You have to sacrifice yourself to save me!" Josh yelled from the ground.

"Well, looks like you are totally screwed then, Lyman."

Josh pushed himself up on his elbows and scowled at her. "And I'm the one that gets called hateful. You gonna help me up?" he asked, reaching his hand up to her. She put her hand in his and pulled him up off the ground. She lost her footing as he pushed himself up, so she soon found herself pressed against Josh as he wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling.

She was having trouble breathing, but in a good way. It had been such a long time since she had been in this kind of proximity to him – she had about forgotten the effect it had on her. In the past, though, he would immediately release her and their walls would go back up. Not this time, though – this time he smiled shyly and readjusted his arms so they were just a bit tighter around her waist. She immediately rested her hands on his elbows.

"I'm sorry you are having a bad time" he whispered, leaning in a fraction more.

She counted to ten, trying her best to keep her pulse under control. "Oh well… it's not… I'm not having a bad time" she said, smiling back, running her hands over his arms to his shoulders.

Josh glanced over their shoulders to see the group starting to break up. He turned back to the woman in his arms. "Well, looks like the tour is about over anyway. I say we grab some ice cream and head back and watch a movie, ladies' choice."

Donna waggled her eyebrows at him and smiled widely. "Well, what girl could resist that offer." He returned her smile and released her from his arms. They started walking out of the cemetery and as they hit the sidewalk to head back to the mansion, Josh reached over and threaded his fingers through hers.

* * *

"Damn, she is so sexy." 

"Yeah, I'll grant you that."

Josh looked over at Donna – something he hadn't been able to quit doing since she showed up at his door in a red tank top and black shorts. He had to recite the Vice Presidents names in his head in order to keep himself under control.

"Excuse me?"

Donna looked over at Josh and giggled. "She's hot, Josh. You'd have to be blind not to see that."

They were watching 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' on pay-per-view after they had decided it was the best of both worlds – Brad Pitt for Donna and Angelina Jolie for Josh.

"I mean, seriously, Josh, she's smoking' hot and any woman that…" she looked over to see that Josh had closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headboard. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Letting my imagination run away from me" he said, smirking. She made a face and slapped him on the chest. Before she could remove her hand, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her flush to his body. Donna titled her head up to look at Josh and lost her breath when she saw his lips mere millimeters away from hers.

"You want to abuse me or do you want to watch the movie" he asked, smiling as he tucked her hair behind her ear and ran his fingers along her cheekbone and down to her jaw. Before she could gather her thoughts, Josh turned his attention back to the movie and shifted Donna ever so slightly so they were both comfortable in their current positions. After the movie was over, they watched national news and yelled at SportsCenter until they both fell asleep lying in each other's arms.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **see chapter one.

* * *

She fiddled with her hair for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. She was starting to get impatient. Josh had left her with explicit instructions for the evening. He had been very cryptic all day about what they were doing tonight. All he would tell her was to make sure to wear the 'something nice' he had told her to bring.

She glanced at the clock again – 7:19. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. "There are only so many times I can touch up my makeup" she said to herself. She was about to rearrange her hair again when she heard a knock on the door. She threw it open and felt all of the air sucked out of her lungs.

He stood there, leaning against the door jam, in a crisp navy blue suit that had to be new, holding a white rose in his hand. He extended his hand out to her – "this is for you" he said as she took the rose from him, sniffing it quickly.

He felt all of the saliva dissipate from his mouth. She looked stunning in the hunter green dress he thought he remembered from a fundraiser a couple of months back. He had been preoccupied with donors that night, so he didn't remember for sure, but he knew she looked stunning now.

"You ready to go?" he said, stepping into the room.

"Let me put this flower in some water" she said, walking back toward the bathroom to fill up a small glass with water. He watched as she glided through the room, placing the rose in the middle of the table and gracefully picking her purse up off the bed.

"Shall we?" he said, extending his arm out of her to take. She smiled as she linked her arm through his. They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked through the mansion. Donna was shocked at what was waiting for them when they walked outside.

"Mr. Lyman?" the man asked, hopping down out of the carriage. Josh nodded and the man opened the door. Donna tightened her grip on Josh's arm.

"Is that our ride?"

"Yeah" he said, smiling.

"Josh, that's a horse drawn carriage."

Josh looked at he carriage sitting in front of them and then back at her. "Is it? Oh my God, your right! What in the…"

"Yeah, ok smartass, thanks for that" she said, regaining her composure. Josh smirked at her and she slapped him on the arm. The driver held out his hand for Donna to take as she stepped up into the carriage and Josh followed behind. He sat down next to her, throwing his arm over her shoulders.

"On to dinner, Mr. Lyman?"

"Yes please."

"OK – oh, and there is a blanket back there in case you all get cold at any point tonight" he said as he pulled on the reigns to get the horses moving.

"Wait, all night?"

Josh looked over at Donna and smirked. "Yeah. He's a friend of Rhonda's. She made a call on our behalf and well… it would seem we have a personal driver for the evening."

Donna turned her head and looked at him. "Josh, what's going on?"

All Donna got in response was a dimple grin and a twinkle in his eyes as he tightened his arm around her shoulder.

* * *

They enjoyed a quiet, leisurely – and in Donna's opinion – a very romantic dinner. Who would have thought that after all this time they would have had anything left to talk about, but they did. They stepped out into the night and Donna crossed her arms over her body, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"Cold?" he asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms over hers. She sighed and leaned back into him slightly, relishing in the feel of his body pressed against hers, loving the warmth she could feel through his suit. She turned her head and looked at him. She was about to ask him a question – the question – when they heard the clip-clop of horses coming around the corner.

Josh helped Donna up into the carriage and quickly followed behind her. "Where to Mr. Lyman?" the driver asked. He looked over at Donna, who shrugged. He looked back at the driver and smiled. "How about some good, live music?"

The driver smiled back at them. "I know just the place. Will take about 20 minutes or so to get there."

"Great!" Donna yelled. The driver turned back to the road and they took off. Donna leaned down and grabbed the blanket from under their seat. Josh wrapped his arm around her waist as she leaned back. She spread the blanket out over their legs and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

* * *

They had been at the club for about a half hour, just sitting there and listening to the great music. She watched him finish his beer. He set the empty bottle down on the table and she leaned into him. "I want to dance" she whispered in his ear. He immediately obliged by standing up and offering her his hand. He led them out onto the dance floor.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself flush to his body. He rested his hands on her hips and rested his cheek against hers. A slow, jazzy number had just started. They swayed back and forth to the music.

They rarely danced together. They were usually working or were there with other people. There had been one dance at a state dinner way back during year one of the Bartlet Administration and their half dance the night of the second inauguration and the one time Helen and Matt had forced them together right after she had started working for the Santos Campaign. Those dances were very formal. They always made sure to maintain a distance from each other. His hand would be on her hip and hers on his shoulder as they danced around the floor.

This dance, here in this club, away from DC was so very different than any dance they had ever shared before. There was no space between their bodies – they were flush from hips to cheeks. Their hips swayed back and forth, in unison. When she tightened her arms around his neck, he wrapped on arm around her waist and moved the other to the base of her neck. The only way to characterize this dance was sensual.

As the song ended, Donna pulled away from Josh ever so slightly so she could look at him. The look in his eyes took her breath away. Granted she had seen this look before, but it usually was there and gone before she knew what it was. This time, it was proudly displayed on his face and there was no hint of it going anywhere anytime soon.

"Josh…" she whispered.

"Not here" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her across the floor and out onto the deserted patio.

* * *

Donna leaned back against the railing, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, watching Josh pace in front of her. He saw that she was cold and immediately took off his suit jacket and gave it to her. She wrapped the jacket around her shoulders and inhaled his scent.

"Josh, what is…"

He held up his hand, effectively silencing her. "Just… I need… just give me a minute." Donna nodded and just watched him. She had forgotten how much she loved watching him move around, watching him think and work out a problem in his head. They were so busy and so far away from each other by the time she had joined the campaign that she didn't let herself fall back into the habit of watching him. She watched as he started to slow down and finally stop in front of her, hands shoved in his pockets and she knew he was ready to say whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Ok, I guess…" he froze for a moment and she was worried he was going to backtrack. She knew this needed to happen – this needed to happen now or it was never going to happen, that was clear.

"Josh…"

It was something inside him crumbled, like that last wall inside of him finally fell. "I was hurt, Donna, hurt for so long. You just… you left and I know that you had good reasons and that you needed to go, but it still didn't take the sting out. I spent so much time being angry, convincing myself that letting someone in like I had let you in wasn't good for me, that it wasn't something I should have ever done in the first place. I decided that from then on, I needed to look out for me so that's what I did. I was so hateful, so mean to you during the primaries, but I thought… I just thought it was for the best. Most of the time I was able to keep it under control, but there were times, like Iowa for instance, where I said screw it and tried to make myself go back, but something always stopped me. Even after the convention and you came to me… I still thought that I needed to look out for me, but I couldn't help myself. I missed you so much, everyday I missed you – I wasn't lying about that. Then, when Lou hired you, I just decided to ignore it, try my best to keep the walls up, but… then…" She could see him getting choked up

"What Josh?"

"Leo died and I felt that… well, that another person left me. It hurt too much. I know I shut down, I know that you and Lou took on most of the work those last few days – you two really saved me, but I guess you've always been saving me since the day we met. The day after the election, I just… couldn't move. It all felt like it was too much, but then…"

"What?"

"Reach into the inside jacket pocket." Donna gave me a confused look as she reached into the jacket and pulled an envelope out of the pocket. Josh's name was scrawled across the front and she immediately recognized Leo's handwriting.

"What is this?" she asked in a whisper, tears in her eyes.

"Mallory showed up the day after the funeral. She must have banged on the door for 10 minutes. I only let her in after she yelled that she was calling Abbey and that the Secret Service were going to come break down my door if I didn't let her in immediately. I really wasn't up for any visitors, but she was very convincing."

"I can imagine."

"Yeah, but anyway, she had promised Leo that if anything happened to him, she would get these letters to the people they were addressed to. She had already been to see CJ, had talked to Sam and had given Andi the letter for Toby. I guess I was last on the list and… well, I guess he did this after the first heart attack, just in case. She thinks he knew something was wrong because she said he called her a couple of days before he died, making sure that she knew were to find the letters."

"What does it say?"

"Go ahead" Josh said, motioning for her to open the letter. Donna flipped the envelope over and pulled the piece of paper on it. She unfolded the paper and felt the tears start to slip down her face as she read the one line letter - _Josh, don't grow up to be like me. Leo_

Josh moved in front of her, putting his hands on either side of her on the railing she had been leaning on. Donna looked up at him, confused. "Josh, I don't understand. What…"

"I knew, as soon as I read that, I knew. I couldn't end up like him, barely any family to speak of, living for the job and that's it, having a heart attack on a tarmac headed toward the next random city. He knew it too; he wanted more for me than how his life turned out. There was actually a second letter that he had told Mallory to read to me."

"What did that say?"

Josh smirked. "Well, it was quite lengthy, but the gist was that I needed to do something outside of the box and whatever it was I decided to do, I also needed to make sure you were with me when I did it."

She couldn't speak anymore. She folded up the letter and put it back inside Josh's jacket and looked back at him.

"Donna, I just…" he was getting flustered and choked up. She put her hands on his cheeks. "Go ahead, Josh."

"I was so lost. I've spent the last year and a half feeling lost, feeling like it's me against the world, but I know now why I felt like that. We got so far away from each other – that's why I felt so lost, you weren't there anymore. But, you stuck by me through the funeral and the election when you had no reason to."

"I had reasons, Josh. I had lots and lots of reasons."

He smiled at her, leaning into a little more. "You're my anchor, you always have been. You keep me grounded, keep me focused… and I don't mean in the assistant kind of way. I always worked that much harder because you were around. When you weren't around, it hurt too much to think about. But, us, in DC, was always too hard. That's why I wanted to get us out of DC, away from the eyes and the gossip mill. I wanted it to just be us, me and you, to see if…"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "To see if what, Joshua?

"To see if you and me… I mean, we… could be a different version of us, I guess."

She laughed and looped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer so that his body was flush to hers and his lips were millimeters away. "I'd about given up hope on you, Joshua Lyman."

"You had?" he said, seeming genuinely concerned.

"No, not really. I would never give up on you; I don't think I would know how."

They would never know who kissed who first. They finally decided that it was mutual, that they met each other half way that night. They both had spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to kiss the other – what the lips would feel like, what would be going through their minds, but none of the thoughts and fantasies touched the real life experience.

It was like they had been kissing each other for years – they feel into a pattern with ease. As Donna wound her fingers through his hair and turned to deepen the kiss, Josh ripped his hands off the rail and wrapped his arms around Donna's waist. Josh leaned her back against the rail and held onto her with all his might. He tried to convey everything he had felt since that fateful day in Manchester all those years ago through this kiss.

When the need for oxygen overpowered both of them, they pulled apart. He would have sworn that Donna was glowing.

"Wow" she whispered.

"Yeah. Donna, that was…"

"Let's do that again" she said as she pulled him back to her lips.

The first kiss had been soulful and healing. It had been the promise of tomorrow, a promise of a life-altering change. This kiss, this kiss had none of those things. This kiss was primal across the board. He plundered her mouth with tongue as she ran her hands up and down his back until they have to rest on his lips. She proceeded to pull his hips into her and started to sway back and forth against him. He moaned as she ripped her lips from his and started to kiss her way down his neck. He knew they were quickly spiraling out of control and, while neither one of them wanted to stop, he knew they needed to move to a different location, preferably one with a door and a large bed.

He grabbed her face and placed a light kiss on her lips. "Donna, we need to…"

"Get the hell out of here" she said. He nodded and pushed off of her, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the front entrance.

The carriage had just pulled up as they tumbled out the front door, fused together at their lips. They broke apart when the carriage driver cleared his throat. Donna jumped up into the carriage and leaned back against the seat, crossing her legs and smiling at him seductively. Josh jumped up behind her and tapped the driver on the shoulder.

"If you can get us back to the mansion as quick as humanly possible, there's an extra $25 in it for you."

The driver glanced behind him and saw the couple. He quickly turned back and nodded. "Yes, Mr. Lyman." As he pulled away from the club, Josh pulled Donna into his lap to continue what had been started in the club.

TBC….


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1  
**A/N: **Short, sweet, and to the point, cause Lord knows we could all use that at this point!

* * *

She had practically crawled up into his lap as soon as the carriage pulled away from the club – not that he was complaining. He relished in the fact that he could put his hands on her and kiss her whenever he felt like it. He loved the fact that she couldn't seem to keep her hands off of him. They would only break apart long enough to take in more oxygen before resuming the kissing.

The driver had to clear his throat three times before Josh finally pulled his lips off Donna's. "We're back at the Wentworth, Mr. Lyman." Josh jumped out of the carriage and extended his hand up to help Donna. When her feet hit the ground, she pressed herself against Josh, toying with his tie as he pulled a wad of money from his wallet. "You two have an enjoyable evening" the driver said, smirking as he pulled away from them.

Josh didn't hear him – all he saw was Donna. He cradled her face in his hands and assaulted her lips again. It was like the rest of the world melted away when he was kissing her and it made him feel alive and free. He knew that he would never give up this feeling, or her, ever again.

Donna finally pulled back and took a deep breath. "Josh, I think we should… well, you need to take me inside right now."

Josh waggled his eyebrows and grabbed her hand. They walked up the steps silently, grinning like fools. As they walked past the front desk, Donna stopped him. She leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "I think you should cancel your room" she whispered in his ear.

Josh pulled back and stared at her. "Donna, are you sure that…" His voice trailed off and she looked at him. "OK, what's going on Josh?"

She almost laughed as she saw the nerves instantly display themselves on his face. He dropped her hand and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's just… I don't…"

"Josh, just spit it out."

He looked her square in the eye. "I don't want to rush you, to push you into… I am more than willing to go slow and take our time, so don't feel that you have to…"

She laughed this time and threw her arms around his neck. He smiled into her hair as she hugged him. Donna pulled back and looked up at him. "Joshua Lyman, a romantic when it comes right down to it. I would have never guessed." He was about to say something, but she put her fingers over his mouth to silence him.

"Josh, it's been nine years. Seriously, nine years. It's been nine excruciatingly long years – late nights, glances that lasted way too long, the inadvertent touches, the way you always put your hand on the small of my back when we are walking together, tuxedos and formal dresses. Good Lord, Josh, most people would have been married and divorced in the time it took us to have our first kiss. Believe me, nothing, absolutely nothing has been rushed. In fact, if you don't take me upstairs right now, I could very well explode."

He had never heard more glorious words in his entire life. He placed a light kiss on her lips and started to pull her toward the stairs.

"Josh, what about the extra room?" she asked as they hit the top of the stairs.

"Tomorrow. We've got some… business to finish" he said, laughing as he pulled her toward her room.

* * *

What had started out as fun and flirty in the carriage had morphed into something completely different as he kicked the door shut. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him, turning them around so that she was between his body and the door. The kisses that had been fun and carefree were now something more – something that was soul-searing, but branding at the same time. They possessed each other, leaving their emotional mark on the other so that, from this time forward, they would belong to each other.

She pushed his jacket over his shoulders and down his arms. He pushed her against the door and started to kiss his way down her neck as she relieved him of his tie. He growled as she wound her fingers through his hair. He ran his arm over her hip and down her leg, grabbing her thigh and pulling it up, effectively causing her to wrap that leg around him. He moaned as she rocked her hips against his and he began clawing at her dress.

"Josh…" she said breathlessly. He pulled away from her neck to look at her. She smiled at him. "Josh, not that I don't appreciate your… effort, but this dress was expensive, so I would appreciate you not ripping it off my body." That imagine alone sent a jolt through his body.

She pushed against his chest. "I would also prefer to not do this for the first time against the door, if that's alright with you." He watched her move and found himself entranced by the sway of her hips. She did a circle in the middle of the room and turned her back toward him, glancing over her shoulder. "Would you mind getting the zipper for me?" she asked, throwing a desire filled look in his direction. He was behind her instantly, slowly unzipping the dress. As the zipper stopped, she quickly stepped away from him and turned. He could hear his heart beating in his ears as she lifted her arms away from her body and the dress fell to the floor.

He had this overwhelming need to touch her. He took a step toward her and ran his eyes all over her body. He watched her flush on her chest and neck as he ran his fingers over her stomach.

"Josh…" She could barely but a coherent thought together, but she needed him to know that she wanted him now. Hearing his name broke him out of his trance. He pulled her flush to his body and resumed kissing her neck. She quickly made work of the buttons on his shirt. Before she was aware of it, they were both naked and tumbling back on the bed.

He rolled her beneath him and propped himself up on his forearms. He brushed the hair out of her face and just looked at her.

"Josh, what is it?"

He swallowed the large knot in his throat. "I've seen you in dresses, in suits, in casual wear, but I swear to God… you have never looked more beautiful than you do right now."

"Would that have anything to do with my whole being naked thing" she said, but immediately saw that Josh was not in a banter mood.

"Of course not, Donna, it has to do with you… with me… with us finally being us. I had to watch you from the wings for so long that I honestly thought that this was never going to happen. After all we have been through, the shooting, the MS, the kidnapping, Gaza, Amy, Cliff, Jack, Matt losing the election, everyone losing Leo… and all the crap in-between… I never thought we would ever get here, with the chance to be…"

"Us" she said as the tears ran down her cheeks.

He smiled down at her and wiped them away with his thumbs. "Yeah, us. For so long, I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was losing you. Then I did… but I discovered that wasn't the worst thing that could happen to me. The worst thing would be you leaving without knowing that…"

She laid her hand on his cheek. "Josh, I know. I've always known."

He sighed. "Donna, you deserve to hear it, though. All the reasons I spent nine years being jealous, ruining your social life, keeping you in a job you were way to smart for… it was all because I had fallen in love with you. I don't remember the day or the moment or if you were chewing on your pencil or chewing someone out on the phone. I just know that I looked up at you one day and just… well, I just knew. There were no fireworks, no one perfect moment when the angels sang, no flashing neon sign… I guess it had always been there. One day, I just decided to let myself start feeling it."

Emotions took over. His words had been so eloquent, so perfect that she knew she would never be able to compete. She pulled his face down to hers, trying to convey all the feelings that she had felt over the last nine years. She soon found herself lost to him – this was nothing new, she was lost to him the moment she hung up that phone in Manchester nine years ago, but this was lost in a way she had never allowed herself to think of as a reality before. She completely succumbed to him in every way she could.

He kissed every inch of her body. She moaned in delight as he showered kisses on her breasts. She hooked her legs over his and rolled them over so she was on top. She leaned over him, right on the edge of total connection. One look in his eyes told her that he was lost to her just as she was lost to him.

"I love you too, Josh. I love you so much." She slid down onto him and they both moaned in ecstasy. They spent hours discovering each other, discovering what made the other laugh, moan and scream out their names in pleasure.

The sun was just starting to rise as Donna collapsed on top of him, in a sweaty but sated bliss. She rolled off of him and put her hand to her chest, trying to get her breathing under control. She glanced over at him and saw that look – the smile of complete and utter happiness. He rarely wore that look or that smile. She laughed out loud and he opened his eyes to look at her.

"You're a vixen sent here to kill me."

Donna propped her head up on her hand. "Yeah, but what a way to go."

He laughed and pulled her into his side. "No kidding, but for now, sleep."

Donna relaxed into his side and closed her eyes, drifting off into a peaceful sleep, knowing that in the morning, everything would be as it should be.

TBC….


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1  
**A/N: **Well, I was really going to continue this story out, but it seems that I lost my muse. I took me three days to come up with this chapter, so I just decided to end the story here. I think it is my subconscious slowly preparing me for the best show on TV. Please enjoy and thanks for reading!

* * *

Donna stretched her arms over her head and opened her eyes. She reached over for Josh, but only found an empty space. She heard the shower shut off. She pushed herself up on her arms and looked around the room. He had already been to his room, since his bags were sitting in the corner and to get them coffee. She grabbed his dress shirt off the floor and slipped it over her head. She walked across to the coffee and bags sitting on the table. She heard him come out of the bathroom.

"So, which bagel is mine? Or the better question is how many of these did you actually think we could eat this morning?"

She turned and looked at him and she felt her face flush. He stood there, completely still, a towel wrapped around his waist and another hanging around his shoulder. His eyes roamed over her body, up her legs to her face and back again.

She started walking toward him. "Josh? Josh, are you…"

"Marry me" he said. Donna stopped her in tracks. "What did you just say?"

She could see the wheels turning in his head and the fact that those two words came out of his mouth seemed to shock him as well.

"Josh, did you just ask me to…"

He leaned back against the wall and smiled. "Yeah, it would seem that I did."

She crossed her arms and glare at him. "Joshua, you know, it's not nice to tease a girl with…"

"Who said I was kidding?" She dropped her arms and stood there as he walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into him.

"Josh…" she said in a whisper, tears forming behind her eyes.

"Donnatella, just hear me out. That's not how I would have ever imagined asking you, but seeing you standing there in my shirt, discussing breakfast… well, all of a sudden I flashed to a morning a month from now, a year from now, 25 years from now and it was still the same scene – you and me in the morning, half naked, getting ready for the day. And it's right. I can feel it in every fiber of my being. I suddenly saw the life I wanted but had ignored or put off for so long and that life has to be with you or I don't want it at all."

"Oh Josh" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, tears falling down her face. He brought one hand to her face and wiped the tears away.

"And I know that this isn't the most romantic thing in the world… hell, I don't even have a ring or anything… but it felt right, in that moment, seeing you standing there, looking sexy as hell in nothing but my dress shirt… well, I just thought that it had to be said. I know it's soon, but…"

She started to laugh, loudly. Josh just stared at her, confused. "I'm sorry, did I miss making a joke?"

"Oh… my sweet, completely silly Joshua" she said, cupping his face with her hands. "Soon? You think this is soon? I think it's been the longest marriage proposal in the making ever! No, it's not at all too soon."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "So does that mean that you are…"

"Saying yes? Yes, I am saying yes." He smiled brightly at her and wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up off the floor and spinning them around. As he set her back down on the floor, she leaned in to kiss him. It was a sensual kiss that held the promise of a future to come and it made her want him even more than she thought was possible.

He pulled back from her lips, so she started to work her way down his neck. He moaned as she ran her finger nails down his back. "Donna…" he growled out "… what about the coffee?"

"Screw the coffee" she whispered in his ear as she ripped the towel off his body and wrapped her hand around him. He pulled her in for a fierce and wild kiss, walking them backwards toward the bed. He yanked the shirt over her head and they tumbled back onto the bed, barely separating to breathe.

* * *

An hour later, they emerged from the bathroom after taking what could only be described as the sexiest shower ever. She pulled on her jeans and shirt and watched him walk around the room, getting ready for the day.

"So, what should we do today?" he asked, turning in her direction as he concentrated on putting his watch on.

She sighed and looked up at him. "I think we should head back to DC." He slowly looked up at her. "Donna…" he whined.

She grinned and walked over to him. She placed her hand on his cheek. "Why don't you want to go back? You know we can't stay here forever."

He just sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. "Because DC will suck the life out of us."

"Only if we let it, Josh. But you realize you aren't facing DC alone anymore. You never really were."

He put his hand on her hips. "I know, but…"

"Josh, it's who we are, it's where we live, it's our life. We can't avoid it forever, but we can take it on, together now."

He placed a light kiss on her lips. "You're right. But, we really have to go back today?"

She laughed. "Well, we have to go back sometime and I do believe I need a proper engagement ring and I just love that little place near the townhouse in Georgetown."

He hugged her tightly and kissed her temple. "Alright, we'll go back today, but I just want to say now that I love you and I will always love you. I just want to say that and make sure you believe it before we head back to the craziness."

"I love you too, Joshua, and always will. Not DC or anything could change that." She kissed his cheek and pulled out of his arms.

They quickly packed their things and headed out. They checked out, saying goodbye to Rhonda. They put their bags in the trunk of Josh's car. They leaned back against the car and looked around one last time before getting in the car. They headed back to DC, not being real sure what tomorrow or the day after tomorrow would hold, but they knew that whatever it was, they would face it together.

THE END


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